Twinglish
by Kitty Kat K.O
Summary: Expect the unexpected. Or rather, find out Ichigo has a twin. The biggest horror any of the Mew Mews have come across...but is Kiichigo really what she seems? Is she really like Ichigo? Is she really everyone else's nightmare? Or just her sister's? RxI
1. Christmas Brings Kiichigo

Half-term is almost over! Aww! Anyway, apart from that, there isn't really much to say. This is probably the shortest A/N I've ever done.

I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Chapter 1

Christmas Brings Kiichigo

Her breaths came out in clouds of a pearly white mist as she walked along the path. Her short strawberry hair was pulled back in the usual bunches, however, since she hadn't brought a hat, her head was freezing. As were her hands and pretty much everywhere else.

During her shift at Café Mew Mew snow had fallen constantly, blanketing the ground in the white flakes. Icicles hung from the buildings and trees like crystals. _So much for 'Sunshine all day long'. Stupid weather forecast! _thought the catgirl. A whistling wind whipped up her hair and the edges of the jacket that dangled from her shoulders. She tugged it tighter around her, trying to warm her up.

Ichigo looked to her companion, wondering how on earth he could walk sleeveless and not get cold. Or at least seem unaffected by the cold. The tall blonde, who had insisted on walking her home since a frightening shadow of ebony darkness surrounded the streets of Tokyo, had given the red-head his jacket because she had forgotten her own.

Ichigo sighed and faced forward once more. The two rounded the corner, every step bringing them closer to the Momomiya residence. The silence was just about killing the strawberry Wildcat. She herself couldn't think of anything reasonable to say to him, however, that didn't mean he was in the same situation! There was sure to be some topic or other he could bring up that they would be able to discuss - or, seeing as it _was _the two of them, they would be able to argue about.

The catgirl frowned slightly. Butt this frown turned first into a shocked expression when a tiny white flake landed gracefully on her nose. Her hand lifted into line with her face so her fingers could reach and touch the little thing. Her head flew up to stare at the sky and a shriek emitted from Ichigo.

The boy beside her turned to face her, giving her a questioning look.

Though she didn't see it, she replied, "Shirogane, it's _snowing!!_"

Ryou glanced up aswell, noting that it was indeed snowing. Then turning back to the Irimote, he smiled, though it was quite a small smile. Ichigo's face was a sight not to miss. Her eyes were open wide and seemingly sparkling, her mouth twisted into an excited grin and an aura of childishness engulfing her.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone get this worked up about a little snow," he said.

The catgirl came out of her childish daze, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her boss, "What? Don't you like snow Shirogane?"

"Of course I like snow, baka Strawberry. I've just never seen a teenager revert to a five-year-old's state of mind over the stuff before," he scoffed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

She rolled her eyes and giggled. Then, an idea popped into her head. The red-head threw her head back up to the sky again, however, this time she opened her mouth wide. Several snowflakes fell from the air and landed in her mouth, immediately dissolving when they came into contact with the warmth.

Ryou shook his head and continued walking. She caught up to him.

Finally growing tired of eating the snowflakes, she started talking.

"Christmas is only a week away. You don't have any of those big, fancy parties planned, do you?"

He sighed. "Yeah, Christmas Eve there's going to be a party."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ichigo pull a face.

"You really hate it that much?"

"Anou…no, not…hate in particular. I just don't fit in. I'm not rich and I can't socialize with anyone. It's just, you know, kinda boring for me."

"The other girls don't seem to have a problem," Ryou informed her.

"Well, Minto-chan is used to parties like them, as is Zakuro-chan. Purin-chan likes to perform for the guests and Retasu-chan gets asked to dance after only a couple of minutes of being there," Ichigo explained.

"I asked you to dance, didn't I?" he asked, knowing the answer anyway.

"Yeah…but…" Her mouth tugged up into a smile. She hadn't forgotten exactly, but she had realised something. He could have danced with any girl he wanted. However, he chose to dance with her because she was the lonely wallflower that would have probably remained that way all night. Ichigo had to admit, he seemed like the biggest jerk in the world most of the time, but Ryou did have his moments. But he could never be as sweet as her Aoyama-kun.

Ichigo immediately got caught up in another of her constant daydreams. This continued until the two arrived at the top of the catgirl's street, which was pointed out by Ryou seeing as Ichigo was pretty much oblivious to her surroundings.

"Oh, already?" Ichigo asked, quite shocked they had gotten there so quickly. Her tone suggested that she was actually upset about it.

"What? Will my Strawberry miss me? Can she not bare to part ways with me so soon?" Ryou teased, leaning dangerously close to the catgirl's face.

"Nya!" she shrieked, her cat ears and tail deciding to make an appearance.

Ryou smirked and reached out a hand. He began to scratch behind her ear as he had been doing so every time her Wildcat features popped out in the past few weeks.

A soft rumbling noise came from somewhere inside Ichigo. Her purring grew louder and louder as Ryou continued to rub her ears. Suddenly he stopped, giving her a second to calm down before…

"SHIROGANE!! Wait - I WAS PURRING?!?!"

"Yep," he simply replied.

She glared at him, then sighed.

"I guess I better be going. See you tomorrow, Shirogane," she said smiling, waving her hand at the boy.

"Actually the café's closed tomorrow. You can still come in if you want. The other girls are. Even Kish, Pai and Tart are," he told her.

"Oh. Why are you closing the café?"

"Putting up Christmas decorations. Keiichiro's making me," he groaned.

The red-head giggled. "I'll defiantly be in then. Usual time?"

"No. You have to come in half an hour earlier than normal. in other words: on time."

The Irimote had to use all her will-power not to lose it with him then and there. He could see this. He turned to leave her, but before taking a step forward, he flicked her forehead. "See you tomorrow, baka Strawberry."

And with that he was off, walking away from the outraged Ichigo.

She glared at his back before also turning on her heel and heading down her street.

It was an arrangement they had made a week or so back; Ryou would walk Ichigo home but he would drop her off at the top of her street. It began due to one time when Ryou walked Ichigo all the way up to her driveway before leaving. It had just so happened that Ichigo's father had seen them and questioned his poor daughter non-stop - every conversation they had (he would always find a way to bring it up) - for at least a week.

Her childish grin returned as soon as she looked around and took in her street. Lights were hung in the gardens, shining bright, reminding her Christmas was only a week away.

She started running towards her house, excitement filling every inch of her body.

However, as she approached, something didn't seem right…something was different…

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"I see she's back," commented a girl as she glanced out of the window and across the street. The Momomiya home was busier than ever and buzzing with happiness.

"Hai. It's been years hasn't it?"

A tall man approached the teenager from behind, laying a hand on her shoulder as he joined in her watching.

"How many years exactly? She was four when she left, and Ichigo-san's thirteen now so…nine years?" she asked her father.

"Yeah. That's it. Nine years and Kiichigo-san's back. Wonder what made her change her mind about staying in America," he said.

"Who knows? Could be that her parents wanted her back. Maybe they can finally handle the two of them," she answered, her eyes never leaving the scene in front of her.

"Oh well. I bet, though, Ichigo-san is happy."

"Yeah. Getting someone back that you've been separated from for so long must be good," she sighed. "If only mum would come back. Then we'd be happy too."

"Oh, Lilli! Stop going on about that. You're mother and I got divorced. We have been for three years now and we aren't getting back together anytime soon so…" he trailed off as he left the room.

"But dad!" Lilli exclaimed, following him out of the room.

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Arriving at her house, Ichigo burst inside, calling out to her parents that she was home.

"Ichigo honey, where have you been? You're later than usual," her mother shouted from the living room.

"I hope you haven't been with that _boy _again. If you have, you're in big trouble, missy," her father yelled.

"Depends which 'boy' you're talking about," Ichigo grinned as she took her shoes off and placed them in the cupboard.

"What do you mean by that young lady?!" he bellowed. "Wait…you HAVE been with a boy, haven't you?"

Ichigo giggled. "No," she lied. "I just like getting you worked up."

Ichigo made her way to the door, about to enter the living room when she discovered something. Ryou's jacket still hung from her shoulders. Deciding it would be best to hide the jacket instead of starting a yelling match with her parents - though it would be mainly her father - she sped upstairs and into her bedroom.

Now, seeing as Ichigo is so slow, when she got into her bedroom she didn't notice the several suitcases lying in the middle of the floor. Nor when she went to place the jacket on her own bed did she see the other airbed that had been blown up and propped against the other wall. So, the oblivious girl left the room, not realizing a thing…until she was halfway down the stairs.

Rushing back to her room, Ichigo did a double-take. That was when she saw everything. Her face screwed up in confusion. Choosing the best course of action that would actually get her an answer rather than her thinking about it all night to no avail she turned and headed towards the living room.

"Mum! Dad! Why are there --"

She stopped in mid-sentence, unable to believe the sight that met her.

"Kiichigo…" the Irimote Wildcat whispered.

"Heya Ichi! Good to see you again!" a girl exclaimed.

She stood in the middle of the living room, arms open wide gesturing for Ichigo to hug her. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, threatening to pour down her cheeks at any time. Choking back a sob and trying to swallow the lump in her throat, Ichigo took in the other girl's appearance. She had long hair that reached mid-back which was the same colour as the catgirl's. Her soft chocolate eyes were a mirror image of the Irimote's own and her smile was virtually a reflection. Apart from the fact she was slightly taller and seemingly stick-thin, she could have been Ichigo's double. Probably because she _was _Ichigo's double…

"Ki?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm home!"

Wiping her tears away, she flung herself into this new girl's arms.

"KYAH! It's sooo good to see you again!! I missed you so much! It's been years!" Ichigo shrieked, parting from her old friend to begin to bounce up and down on the spot. "I've missed you Kiichigo!"

Kiichigo just giggled as she watched Ichigo jumping around the room, clapping her hands in delight. "Missed you too, sis," she eventually said.

Stopping for only a second, Ichigo enquired," So they're your bags up in my room?"

"Yep. Hope you don't mind that I'm going to be sharing your room for a while?" Kiichigo smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"No problem! It gives us more chance to gossip!" the catgirl squealed happily.

"Yeah. I need to know about all the cute boys around here now, seeing as I'm back for good," her sister grinned, winking, her tone mischievous.

"Girls…" came an angry voice from behind.

"Eep! Forgot you were here! Let's continue this conversation upstairs, Ki!" And with that, Ichigo grabbed her sister's wrist and dragged her out and up to her bedroom.

From the bottom of the stairs they could her their dad's threatening calls about dating boys leading to consequences.

"He was like this when we were four, wasn't he?" Kiichigo asked.

"He doesn't ever change," the smaller of the two smiled.

"And it seems neither does this room. It's still pink!"

"Yeah, but a different shade," Ichigo pointed out.

Kiichigo took a seat on the bed as Ichigo carried on talking.

"…and then there's my friends and my job at the café --" once again she stopped mid-sentence, but it was followed with, "Oh no! I promised Shirogane I'd be in tomorrow!...You'll just have to come in with me! You can meet all of my friends! And all we're doing tomorrow is putting up the decorations - which should be interesting if Purin-chan does a repeat performance of last year. That was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen!"

Kiichigo spoke up then, "I can't wait. It sounds like fun! But, is it alright if I go to bed now? I'm really tired from my long flight."

"Sure," replied the catgirl. She left the room so that Kiichigo could get changed and settle in peace. Though it was not long before Ichigo herself retired for bed. Plenty of sleep was required since tomorrow was assured to be somewhat interesting…

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**A/N: **So, how did you like it? I should've updated my other stories first, I know. But I've had this idea for a while now and really wanted to turn it into a story!

I'm working on the sequel to Prank Wars, however it may take a while before I can post it. I've got a history project due in soon and a geography one aswell. And it really doesn't help I've barely done anything for them so far.

Anyway, review if you want me to update…both this and my other fics!


	2. Meet My Sister

I know I haven't updated anything in a while, but I'm really trying my hardest to write as much as I can. Thing is though, I'm trying to update all of my fanfics at once - which I don't recommend you try, it's way too confusing!! Anyway, hopefully this chapter will make up for that…

Ruby: So without further ado, she will now state the obvious.

KKKO: Hey! Why'd you come back?!

Ruby: Quit whining, you should be happy I've come to see you. You would get bored without me.

KKKO: (mutters) I wish…

Ruby: What did you say?

KKKO: Absolutely nothing!

Ruby: That was a rhetorical question. I heard you.

KKKO: Do you have heightened senses or something?...Did you steal Ichigo's ears?

Ruby: Idiot, they're attached to her head…most of the time…

KKKO: Whatever! (sticks tongue out) Anyway, I wasn't going to get _you _to do the disclaimer!

Ruby: Why not?

KKKO: Cos I wanted Claudia to do it.

Ruby: Why?

KKKO: She's nice to me.

Ruby: Whatever. KO doesn't own TMM. Now she will actually get onto the story - you hear me Kitty, WRITE!!

KKKO: Fine! Fine! I'm writing! ENJOY!!!!

Chapter 2

Meet My Sister

Mist-like steam covered the windows for a moment before disappearing. A second later it was replaced by more. This process was repeated for a while, steam seeming to magically appear on the freezing glass. One last time the window fogged up, but this time fingers attacked it, pressing against the hard surface, moving up and down, scribing words. But before the fingers were able to finish their work, the steam disappeared. However, it came back instantly and once again the fingers began to stroke letters onto it. Although, this time, initials were opted for so that the message could be completed.

Another hand joined the first and together they began clapping at the successive completion.

"What are you doing Purin-chan?"

Even though the voice was soft - although sly - the owner of the hands jumped slightly from the shock of the sudden question and she twisted her small body round to face the speaker.

"Nii-san!" she exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around the elder boy in a hug. "I was just playing with the windows, na no da. Did you know that when you breathe on them they get foggy and you can write on them?" she said excitedly into his chest.

"I can see. But it seems to have disappeared now, Purin-chan," he replied.

Turning, she saw that the window was clear again and her eyes began to brim with tears. "It's gone, na no da," she agreed sadly, her lower lip trembling.

Seeing the young girl so distressed, he decided to cheer her up. After all, he was nice sometimes.

"You know, if you breathe onto the window again in the exact same place, the letters will show," he explained.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded and stepping forward he let out a breath, creating the mist once more. And there, in the middle were the same initials.

'PF 4 T-T-k'

She squealed with joy, giggles escaping and she gripped the boy tighter. "Arigato Shirogane-nii-san!" she thanked him.

He smirked, enclosing his own arms around the girl for a minute before moving them underneath her and lifting her down and onto her feet. She grinned, looking up at him.

"We're getting the decorations down from the loft now. So we'll be putting them up as soon as everyone gets here," he informed her.

"Ok. I hope Tar-Tar-kun is here soon, na no da," she smiled.

"Oh, I didn't tell you, did I? He's already here. In fact, he's in the kitchen," Ryou said.

Purin's eyes lit up and not a second later she had dashed off to find her alien friend. The blond boy chuckled to himself. As he was about to walk away, he glanced out of the window to see if any of the other girls were in view of the café.

His eyes darted between a limo, a green haired girl running towards the café and a taller purple haired girl walking casually not too far in front of the her friend. Smirking, he turned on his heel and went off in search of his little companion. No red-head in sight. He was going to enjoy it when she did finally arrive…

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Running as fast as she could through the snow blanketed city, one thought continuously surged through her mind - _Shirogane's gonna kill me!_

Once again the cat-girl was late. Hence the fact she was sprinting. But nothing could rid her face of the impish grin. And this time it wasn't because of the crunchy white stuff beneath her feet. No, this time it was because of the surprise she was bringing.

Trailing behind her, moans of tiredness emitting from the other girl due to the lack of stamina and running ability was her twin, Kiichigo.

"Ichi, can you slow down a little bit please?" she wailed, her hand clamped to her side.

"Sorry, Ki. I can't. Shirogane'll kill me if I'm late. Especially since he told me I had to be on time today," Ichigo explained, gaining speed instead of obeying and getting slower.

"Ichigo Momomiya, it wasn't really a question," Kiichigo stated firmly, coming to a stop.

Knowing her sister would get lost without her there, Ichigo had no choice but to halt also and wait for Kiichigo to catch up to her. When she finally did, considering she was far behind Ichigo, she still insisted upon walking.

Biting her lip, the younger of the twins began to get anxious as to what her boss would say because of her lateness. She was already almost half an hour into her normal shift, and if she wasted any more time she knew she would probably get her pay reduced and would probably have to stay long after her friends had gone home. Although, maybe Ryou would let her off, since she did have Kiichigo with her…

Of course, she couldn't ask Kiichigo to run if she didn't want to run. Actually, she probably wouldn't run even if she got down and begged.

Seeing as she was the eldest by nine minutes, Kiichigo had always told her what to do - even when they were tiny babies who were not able to walk or talk. It was never the other way round. Ichigo just didn't feel right ordering her sister to do something. Kiichigo was quite stubborn and although Ichigo herself had been like that, she was at a loss the first few months after her sister had left.

So, brushing the matter of the time off, Ichigo continued to walk beside the other red-head who had seemingly started a one-way conversation about boys.

"…they've got to be taller than me. Ooh - popular too! I mean, who would date someone if they weren't popular? I know, I know, I didn't even need to ask…"

She kept on talking all the way to the café, never stopping once to take a breath or let Ichigo speak, whilst the other girl just smiled and nodded every once in a while, listening intently to every word. It had been so long since the two had seen each other that she just had to acknowledge everything Kiichigo said or did. They had been so close when they were younger, hopefully it could be like that again…

"Where are we going anyway?" Kiichigo suddenly asked.

"Oh, just to the café," Ichigo replied.

"Which café?"

"Café Mew Mew. It's the big pink building over there."

"No way. _Café Mew Mew?! _My friend came to Tokyo on holiday and went there! Apparently it's not only the cutest café but it has the cutest owner! And you honestly _work there?! _KYAH!! Ichi you're the luckiest girl ever!!" Kiichigo squealed.

"Anou…I'm not the luckiest girl ever…"

"Why not?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow.

"Because Shirogane's going to kill me for being super late when he told me to come early. Well, on time - which is early for me."

Grabbing her hand, Kiichigo began to stomp off in the direction of the building, dragging Ichigo with her.

In less than five minutes they were there. Walking the up the path that led straight to the café, Ichigo found a nervous smile plaster itself to her face. She shook her head and took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside.

She hadn't even got a meter from the entrance when she heard a yell from the direction of the kitchen.

"Strawberry! I thought I told you not to be late today!"

Looking up as he spoke, Ichigo shot Ryou an apologetic glance. He returned it with a glare. Her expression instantly fell into a frown and she sighed sadly.

"Ichi!"

Twisting, Ichigo looked at the girl behind her who had just entered. Kiichigo was smiling at her but she noticed her eyes darting at Ryou craftily, trying not to make it obvious that she wanted to stare at him. Strutting towards her, Kiichigo linked her arm gracefully with Ichigo's own. Leaning over, she whispered into her twin's ear, "Introduce me then."

But when she turned back to face him, she found she couldn't say anything. Instead, Ichigo found herself biting back laughter. The expression on his face was definitely a sight not to miss! He was taken aback, a look of bewilderment spread across his features. Now, Ryou Shirogane was not someone to get shocked or be disbelieving, but this?! Two Ichigo's?! It was hard not to be even the slightest bit surprised. Ok, maybe the best way to describe it wasn't 'surprised', maybe it would be better to say…completely freaked out.

"Aww. Speechless are we, Shirogane?" she teased, a few giggles escaping.

He shook his head, as if coming back from a daze and replied with the highly intellectual answer of, "Huh?"

…Which pretty much sent the girl into hysterics. She was laughing so hard she was doubled over, her free arm clutching her side whilst her sister just stared at her strangely and Ryou continued to try to overcome the shock.

After a couple of minutes, Ichigo's mad giggling fit came to an end. Standing upright again, she looked over to the blond…and was dismayed to see him smirking at her.

"What's that look for?" she asked, pouting.

"You are such a baka," he muttered under his breath, but she heard him. Though she decided not to say anything. His gaze rested on her for several moments before switching to her mirror image look-alike then back to her again.

Meanwhile, Kiichigo was beginning to get bored with the other two conversing without her and promptly jabbed Ichigo in the side with her elbow to let her know she was still waiting to be introduced to the boy. Getting the message - although an "Ow!" accompanied it - Ichigo once again began speaking to Ryou.

"Shirogane, this is my sister Kiichigo. Ki, this unfortunately is my boss, Ryou Shirogane."

"Nice to meet you," the girl in question said, smiling at him.

"Likewise. Although, Strawberry never told me she had a sister."

"Twin sister, actually," Kiichigo corrected sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

Ignoring the slight, though obvious flirting, Ryou smirked, "_Twins? _Please don't tell me that you act the same."

"Ye --"

"No, not entirely. We haven't really seen each other since we were four so

naturally our personalities will be different," Kiichigo interrupted her sister, contradicting the answer she was about to give.

Ichigo looked at her puzzledly, but shook it off. She had never considered the possibility that they would be anything but identical in personality aswell as appearance. But they _had _grown up apart, and not only that; Kiichigo had grown up in another country.

She had to admit she was a little disappointed about this. Actually, greatly disappointed.

"Still, I can't believe Strawberry never told me about her having a twin. Must be the first secret she's ever kept from me," Ryou said. Whilst Ichigo had been lost in thought, the conversation between the two other occupants of the room had continued.

"Maybe she finally learnt not to blab everything."

All three turned to face the new speaker.

"Thanks Zakuro-san…wait, was that a compliment or an insult?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the model suspiciously.

"A compliment on your part," the elder girl replied, folding her arms across her chest.

"And how exactly was it supposed to be an insult to me?" Ryou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That wasn't. But this is: you don't know everything about us Shirogane-san, like you think you do. You're not _that _smart."

"Zakuro-chan, you really need to think of better insults to throw at me. Because that wasn't a very good one." Once again, the smirk had taken up it's regular position on his face as he retorted.

After shooting a quick glare at the smug boy, Zakuro focused her attention upon the new person.

Walking over and holding out her hand, she said casually without a hint of emotion, "Watashiwa Zakuro desu. Dozo yorishiku. (My name is Zakuro. Nice to meet you.)"

"Hi, I'm Kiichigo. Ichi's twin. Nice to meet you too," Kiichigo smiled, breaking the link with Ichigo to shake hands with her.

Zakuro nodded then turned to Ichigo. "Minto-chan wants to see you in the changing rooms," she informed her, grabbing the unsuspecting cat-girl's arm and dragging her to where her friend would be.

Cocking her head to the side in confusement, Kiichigo shrugged then followed.

She walked in silence, taking in the appearance of every detail of the café's appearance. Pink, pink and more pink. _Great, so there's pink just about everywhere I go. In my own house the room I sleep in is pink. And this café is pink. I'm going to go insane if there's anymore _pink _anywhere! _she thought aggravatedly, though her expression remained vacant.

Noticing that Zakuro and Ichigo had stopped and were about to enter a room a little further ahead of Kiichigo, she ran to catch up. Halting behind them, she waited for them to go inside before doing so herself.

And instantly she grinned. All the attention was on her.

"Who…? Two…?" a blue-haired girl stuttered, not able to finish either question.

Two other girls - a tall one with green hair and glasses and a petite, bouncy one with blonde hair - at the other side of the room were also trying to figure out who she was and why she looked so much like their friend.

"Oh, yeah. Girls, this is my twin sister Kiichigo," Ichigo explained.

And with that, the blue girl immediately fainted.

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A/N: Finally I finished it!! Took me a whole two days work (I did have some written before that, however, I changed my mind and deleted the chapter and re-wrote the it (did the same with my other fanfics, though they're not finished yet))!! But I know it seemed a little boring. It'll get better!!

And my Japanese lessons are paying off - I was able to use some of what I learnt in them in this chapter (Zakuro's introduction). Before that, I was using online translators but could never seem to find a good one that worked properly.

Well, I'll leave for now, seeing as if I don't, the A/N will be longer than the story itself. Sayonara xoxo


	3. Decoration Disaster!

Ok, so it's been a while. But I haven't had the time to write much lately. I actually started this before Christmas Eve, so I've been working on it as much as I can! I know my updates are becoming less and less frequent, but I've made it one of my New Year's Resolutions to update quicker.

Anyway, on with the chapter, since it's what you've been waiting for!

Passion: She doesn't own TMM, 'kay?

KKKO: Yay, Passion's being nice for once!

Passion: Yeah, yeah, but I gotta dash, Hana's looking for me again. So I'll -- HEY! WHAT DO YA MEAN BEING NICE FOR--

KKKO: Anyway, you better be leaving. Now for the next chapter!

Passion: HEY KIDDO!! DON'T CUT ME OFF LIKE --

KKKO: Oh HANA! I'VE FOUND PASSION!!

Passion: OH NO! PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T JUST DO THAT?!

KKKO: Enjoy the story!!

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Chapter 3

Decoration Disasters

"So, let me get this straight. You two are twins, but were separated when you were younger. And you said you used to be exactly identical, both in appearance and personality?"

"Hai, Minto-chan. That's right," Ichigo grinned, hands clasped behind her back in a cheeky manner. After half an hour, the two sisters had finally managed to explain the situation to the other girls (after waking Minto up first) but they had had trouble grasping the concept of their red-headed friend having a double.

And quite rightly so; the idea of two Ichigo's was way too much to handle. Putting up with one ditsy, nearly-always-hyped-up girl wore several of them down at the best of times - like when she wanted to borrow clothes from Minto, or wailed, or had a pointless argument with Minto, or set her mind on something that by now really wasn't going to happen (like getting a raise). And they were only a few things.

"So, anou…how could anyone tell the two of you apart?" Retasu asked, a kind although curious smile dancing on her lips.

"I don't really remember. But I think we were always dressed in different coloured outfits. Though they were matching clothes," Ichigo replied, laughing lightly at the memory of herself and Kiichigo in bright dresses, sitting on the same chair and both refusing to be parted. "Though it was fun when we swapped one time and got everyone confused."

"Wow, na no da! That would've been sooooo much fun! I wanna do that, na no da!!" Purin squealed, bouncing up and down, throwing her fists into the air as she did so.

Ichigo smiled and nodded in agreement before launching into a tale of the incident.

While all this was going on, Kiichigo was beginning to get bored. She stood beside her sister, but decided to move to the side of the room. Leaning her back against the wall, she folded her arms across her chest and sighed. Blowing a few stray locks of hair out of her face, Kiichigo rolled her eyes at Ichigo. Her twin was loving all the questions and reminiscing about their past. True, she had once been like that. _Once_. Yes, there was a time when she got as easily excited and was as overly energetic and was even as eager, however, things had changed. But she would pretend for now; it would at least keep Ichigo happy.

Closing her brown orbs, she rested her head back on the wall also and listened for a moment to the conversation. After a second, she decided it was meaningless chatter and tuned it out instantly, something she had become quite good at over the years. Though it was something she had been told off about on more than a few occasions.

Unluckily for her, Zakuro had noticed. Turning her back on the gossip also, she made her way towards Kiichigo, once reaching her proceeding to tap her on the shoulder. As the other girl came back to her senses, Zakuro cleared her throat. Almost jumping at the shock of Zakuro standing right in front of her, Kiichigo placed a hand over her chest to steady herself slightly.

"Yes?" she said, a questioning tone to her voice.

"Just curious as to why you're not joining in with Ichigo," Zakuro stated bluntly, raising an eyebrow as she spoke.

"No particular reason. I guess I'm just still tired and anyway, why interrupt? She's having so much fun telling everyone by herself," Kiichigo answered, her reply seeming somewhat reasonable. Yet the elder girl would not budge.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind you adding on bits and chipping in. At least taking part in their conversation would be appreciated," she said, twisting her head to see if her friends had yet noticed their absence.

At this, Kiichigo's eyes narrowed and she shot a glare at Zakuro. However, she quickly remembered that she was supposed to be acting like Ichigo and wiped her face of the expression as Zakuro turned her attention back to her.

But Zakuro had caught the look. However, she didn't say anything, thinking it would be best to ignore it and keep an eye on Kiichigo for now. Giving her a suspicious glance, she shook her head a little, just enough movement that disabled Kiichigo from seeing it. Then she turned and walked over towards her friends, throwing a small glare at the other girl when she didn't automatically follow her.

"Alright," Zakuro started, cutting off the conversation in mid-flow. "When are we going to start putting up the decorations?"

Instantly two pairs of eyes lit up. Retasu smiled lightly and although she wouldn't admit it, Minto also began to get excited.

"I'm guessing by your faces that would be a 'now'," Zakuro said. Immediately she left the room, the other girls chasing after her. However, Ichigo lingered in the doorway, but only long enough to grin at her sister and call out, "Come on! It's going to be so much fun! Especially if it's anything like last year!"

She dashed off along the corridor to the main part of the café, as happy as could be.

As she entered, her grin widened. All of the boxes packed with decorations had been lifted down from the attic and were now scattered across the floor. Kish, Pai and Tart had joined the buzz of people in the pink castle-like building and were beginning to take everything out of the cardboard holders. However, Ryou, Zakuro and Keiichiro were trying to stop them.

"Don't just unpack everything at once. What happens if someone stands on something and it breaks?" Ryou tried to reason with them.

Tart shrugged in reply and selected a delicately shaped glass angel from the box he was busy riffling through. Turning it over in his hands he admired the soft silk-fabric wings cut into feathery forms and sewn together. They were outlined in a silver glitter paste that sparkled when he gently moved the wings back and forth in his fingers. The polished glass body was adorned in a gown of shimmering white gloss, gleaming in the artificial light of the café. Around the hem of the dress was a pattern of tiny stars, which bewildered the alien boy as to how they got there. So minute were they, that he had difficulty comprehending how on earth any human could've actually painted them on. Yet, as he flipped it over on the bottom was a label. It read 'Hand-painted by '. The name itself was a blur, obviously having been smudged over the years, by water maybe? Anyway, it had been designed by hand so that just left Tart even more confused.

Putting it down beside his right thigh, he continued searching through the box for something else that would catch his interest. Several times he took a figure out; another angel, a four-legged creature with a red nose and weird looking spikes (or were they horns) coming from it's head, an old man wearing bright red and a jolly expression. Despite protests from his friends he kept repeating this over and over again - taking things out and leaving them lying on the floor. It was not until Ryou came up to him and took the box away from him did he stop. Then, without warning, Zakuro and Retasu began to collect the figurines he had surrounding him, picking them up and loading them into the cardboard container. However, Tart managed to shield the glass angel from their sight and therefore was able to keep it from being taken from him.

Pouting like the child he was, he glanced over at Kish. Everyone was having the same problem with him, only Kish was putting up a fight.

"Why do I have to put them back?" he asked, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Because they could get broken if you leave them scattered all over the place," Minto replied exasperatedly.

"Well if no-one comes near them they won't get broken," he argued.

"Oh, someone will find a way, trust me," she countered, placing her hands on her hips.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo shouted from the other side of the room.

"That there are some people, mainly red-headed bakas by the name of Ichigo Momomiya, that tend to be clumsy and stupid and are dangerous to everyone and everything around them," Ryou answered with an arrogant smirk.

As he finished his statement he turned to face her, liking the reaction he was getting. Smoke could practically be seen rising from her head. She was fuming, fists clenched at her sides so tightly her knuckles began taking on a white pigment. He teeth were gritted and her gaze was narrowed to a deadly glare that was thrown at the blonde boy. It wouldn't take much to push her over the edge.

Unfortunately for Ryou, he knew just how hard to hit. All he did was utter two words, "Baka Strawberry."

And this was when Ichigo - hypothetically - fell. Her senses crumbled around her as she launched herself at him, sprinting toward him, ready to grab him and tackle him to the ground. She neared him, but at the last second he took a step to the side and she skidded past him. Coming to a stop, she chose a different method of attack: walking. This time he didn't move as she approached.

"You are such a jerk," she said quietly, anger being the only detectable emotion in her voice.

"I know," he replied, just as softly as Ichigo, only he had more of a arrogant tone than an angry one.

She seethed as he backed away from her and sauntered off. He went to one of the sets of decorations, picked it up, faced everyone and announced, "Let's put these up now."

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Half an hour passed…by which point, the chaos had developed. And as Ichigo had hoped, there was currently a repeat of the previous year underway. Purin was swinging on the top tip of the giant synthetic Christmas tree. It was swaying back and forth, back and forth giving the young girl the time of her life. Once again, they had made the mistake of letting her put the star on the top.

At it's base, Keiichiro and Minto were trying to reason with the girl, slightly begging her to come down. Retasu stood a little way off, hands clasped together with worry, concern filling every inch of her mind. Whenever one of the three would call out that swinging on a tree - no matter how big - wasn't safe, Purin would reply with a cheerful, "I'm ok, na no da!"

Zakuro was doing her best to ignore them, though she was anxious to her friend's well-being. However, they were beginning to get on her nerves. She was helping Pai string up the bigger, heavier objects that would hand from the ceiling by unraveling them from their bubble-wrap coat and lifting them high enough for him to grab.

Tart sat on the floor still attempting to unpack everything and leave it around him. He hadn't been on Earth the last time the humans had celebrated this 'Christmas' so it was all new to both him and the other two aliens. He was enjoying himself with this task, however, he kept getting frustrated when Ryou would, every once in a while, walk up to him and gather everything back up and then move the box somewhere else. Although, when this happened, he just picked himself up and followed the older boy until he placed Tart's 'toybox' down. That was when Tart would plop himself back down and begin unloading the contents.

Kish sat at one of the tables doing his job. Sorting out the candy canes and chocolates that would be dotted all over Café Mew Mew. But he had also taken it upon himself to test the sweets out before sorting them. At the moment he was licking a mint-flavoured candy cane - his fifth one so far. He had already consumed just under a dozen interestingly shaped chocolates and several fruit flavoured candy canes. No-one had stopped him, then again, it was because he had yet to be caught.

Ichigo and Kiichigo were busy hanging up the tinsel, laughing and chatting happily as they did so. Unfortunately for the others, the two had stumbled across a whole box filled with only pink tinsel…which was the only thing they were using. The three boxes that contained the different colours were left to one side as the girls concentrated on clothing the café in the pink stuff.

"What are you doing?" came a disgusted voice from behind.

"Decorating the café with tinsel, like we were asked to," Ichigo replied simply and bluntly, knowing far too well that another fight would come out of this.

"The café's pink enough. I don't need you adding to it," the voice said.

"Well then, Shirogane, should've thought twice before leaving us in charge of it and leaving the box with us," she countered. "Anyway, why would you have pink tinsel if you aren't going to use it?"

"Keiichiro made me buy it. Or rather, he bought it and forced me to keep it," Ryou snorted, his face screwed up in a disapproving way. "Take it down and use the other colours," he ordered.

"But it's _pink!! _I like pink, so therefore I am going to use pink!" she retorted, finally twisting around.

Ryou really wasn't in the mood for her nonsense, so he decided - for once in his life - to compromise with the catgirl. "Fine, but at least take some of it down and use some of the other colours."

"And if I don't?"

There wasn't even a second between her question and his reply. "I'll dock your pay." It was the threat he always used on her to get her to do what he wanted, and like the many previous times, it worked.

She mumbled and muttered insults under her breath as she began to undo some of her hard work.

All the while Kiichigo was silent, watching the blonde carefully as he walked off and grabbed the box and decorations Tart was playing with and moved them somewhere else, the younger boy chasing after him.

"Stupid Shirogane. The jerk."

Kiichigo shook her head and smiled at her sister's immaturity as she continued to complain about her boss. Stepping over Ichigo, she grabbed the container full of blue and green tinsel and opened it, beginning to hang it up where the rest of the shiny stuff had been.

For a moment, a quiet atmosphere swept over the café. Well, until Purin finally managed to make the tree tip further in one direction and topple to the ground.

"That's what you get for letting a girl who's part monkey and completely hyper put the star on top," Ichigo grinned, standing and about to make her way to the rest of her friends who were now gathered around the collapsed, unreal plant. Purin was fine, having jumped out of the branches just before the tree had smashed into the ground.

"Part monkey?" asked her sister, freezing Ichigo in her tracks.

Kiichigo was suspicious and she obviously wanted an answer. Ichigo's head was instantly blanked, cleared of all thought. Except one.

_What am I going to do?! _

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**A/N: **It certainly has been a long time since I posted a new chapter hasn't it? Sorry!! But as I said, it's my New Year's Resolution to update quicker! Well, hope you liked the chapter! Plz review!!

Oh, and I'm working on another story, but that won't be up for a while.

Matashita!!

KO xoxo


	4. To Lie or Not To Lie?

Thanks everyone who reviewed! It's been quite a while since I actually got many reviews (seeing as I didn't update in, like, forever) so I was really happy! And I will now begin my resolution and WRITE!! Yay!...And now I have to do revision…great. I have exams for the next two weeks starting from the 7th, but I'll update when I can - I'll at least try and get a chapter up every two weeks or so (have no idea how long that will keep up). So I'm going to start...NOW!

Ruby: She doesn't own Tokyo Mew Mew, blah, blah, blah. How many times do I have to keep saying that? …What? No answer? Hey! Talk to me! Fine, just type then.

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Chapter 4

To Lie or Not To Lie? 

"Part monkey?"

_Oh no! What have I said?! What do I do? The longer I stall the more she won't believe me when I do come up with something! Think, Ichi, think!! _

Her efforts were futile, Ichigo had always found it hard to lie, even harder to think up reasonable excuses and it was even more difficult when she was being pressured. She racked her brains, every inch of her knowledge but it all summed up to the same thing. Nothing.

And in the end, that's exactly what she chose to say.

"Nothing. You must be hearing things," Ichigo giggled nervously, scratching the back of her head as she attempted to throw her sister off her suspicions.

"Really?" Kiichigo asked with a tone that sounded to Ichigo like she was going to give up. _As if. _But Ichigo didn't realise this, and continued to deny ever having said those two words.

"Are you sure, Ichi?" she questioned.

"Yes, yes, I'm - um, what's that word again, oh yeah - _positive._"

"Well, I'm positive you said 'That's what you get for letting a girl who's _part monkey_…" she trailed off, letting it click in Ichigo's head that she knew exactly what had been said and there was no use in trying to lie her way out of it. "Going to explain?" Kiichigo asked expectantly.

"Well, um, you see…Oh, look, I think they need my help over there!" And with that she took off, running towards her friends who were on the other side of the café.

Reaching them, she immediately grabbed Ryou's shirt and tugged him away from the commotion. He raised his eyebrow in silent question to what she was doing, which she returned with a glare urging him to just follow her. Of course, when it was Ichigo, Ryou wouldn't let it go like that.

"Strawberry, what do you think your doing?" he asked, slapping her hand away from his chest seeing as that was where she held him (well, he never wears shirts with sleeves, now does he?). However, she was persistent, latching her hand back onto him and dragging him in the direction of the basement. The only things the two ever discussed down there was The Mew Project, so, figuring it might be important, Ryou swatted at her hand again, but this time caught it and lead her down to the lab instead. Though he wasn't going to let his question go unanswered.

"You still haven't told me: what do you want?" he probed.

"Shh, I'll tell you when we get there," she replied in a whisper, shooting a nervous glance at her twin. She was still in the same spot, but her head was turned at an angle that allowed her to see what the two were doing, but without them knowing.

Trooping down the stairs, Ichigo found herself having second thoughts about telling Shirogane about what Kiichigo had discovered. It hadn't occurred to her before, but as they walked, she realised that he was probably going to be really angry about her slip up. However, it was only a slip of the tongue, surely he would forgive her for that, wouldn't he?

But as they reached the basement floor, Ichigo noticed his expression had taken on a one of seriousness. She bit her lip in anxiety, going over what she could say and the possible outcomes in her head. And as he took a seat, gesturing for her to do the same, she discovered nothing good was going to come out of any situation she had simulated. Glancing around quickly to check they hadn't been followed by her overly-curious red-headed twin, Ichigo sat down on the chair he had offered her. It was comfortable and soft, leading her to believe it was Keiichiro's. After all, there were only two chairs like this in the whole of the off-limits room, and Ryou was sitting in the other one.

"So, I'll repeat: What do you want?" He spoke slowly, as if she was stupid and incapable of understanding. But instead of the backlash and fierce retorts of "Don't do that! I'm not an idiot!" he had expected, he received silence and a rather worried look from the catgirl.

She took a deep breath before replying, "It kind of involves The Mew project and…my sister…"

Instantly Ryou's attention locked onto her completely. His gaze focused on her and for a moment their eyes met one another before Ichigo turned away.

She opened her mouth to speak, the blonde boy waiting intently for her explanation, but it never came. She shut her mouth, not knowing quite how to put it. She couldn't exactly come out and say that Kiichigo had become suspicious because she had let out that Purin was part monkey. Ichigo chewed on her lip, biting so hard on it that she managed to cause it to split and blood to well up in the cut.

Just as Ryou was about to ask her again, which he was getting quite sick of doing, she answered.

"IkindofletitslipthatPurin-chanwaspartmonkeybutIhonestlydidn'tmeanforKiichigotohearbutnowshe'ssuspiciousandkeepsaskingmewhyIsaidthatandthethingisIcan'treallylietoher--"

"Strawberry, slower. I can't understand you if you talk that fast," Ryou cut in.

She sighed and started again, "I kind of let it slip that Purin-chan was part monkey. But I honestly didn't intend for Kiichigo to hear. But now she's suspicious and keeps asking me why I said that and, the thing is, I really can't lie to her."

Ichigo's chocolate eyes once again locked with his cerulean ones. He was angry.

"I'm sorry --"

"How much does she know?" he asked sternly.

"Nothing more than that Purin-chan's part monkey, and I'm not even sure she completely knows that," she stated.

He sighed, "That's ok then. It won't be hard to get her to believe she isn't."

Ichigo let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. She was relieved that he wasn't too mad at her. Sure, they got into fights and yelled at each other all of the time, but they were never, in Ichigo's opinion, truly angry at one another.

"So she doesn't know that you and the other girls are Mew Mews? And she doesn't know that Kish, Pai and Tart are aliens?" he questioned further, checking there wasn't anything else for him to be concerned about.

"Well, now I do."

Ichigo and Ryou's heads snapped round to face the door. And in it stood Kiichigo, smirking at the new knowledge she had gained.

"Nya, Ki!" Ichigo exclaimed, her eyes opening wide and staring at the girl. Ryou stared also, but his look was sourer, his own eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Why didn't anyone tell me before?" she asked innocently, though the smirk was still painted on her face.

"Because it's none of your business," Ryou retorted, his glare now shooting daggers at her.

"Ki, I can explain --"

"Strawberry," Ryou warned.

"But Shirogane, she's my sister," Ichigo whined.

He sighed. Ryou looked at Ichigo's pleading face - the one she sometimes used when she was after a raise - but for once he decided to admit defeat. Gesturing for her to tell her, he leant back in his chair and twisted in the other direction.

Kiichigo walked towards the two and stood in front of Ichigo, waiting impatiently for an answer.

Without turning back around, Ryou spoke one last time before allowing Ichigo to take over. "You can only tell her if she promises never to tell anyone else."

"Fine. I promise," Kiichigo stated, her fingers crossed behind her back…

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Silence. Not a word was uttered in the dark room. The only sound was the slight hum of the computer as it processed several files. The three occupants sat in an uncomfortable soundlessness, the tense atmosphere getting the better of the smallest girl. She perched on the edge of the chair she had been given, rubbing her arms awkwardly, trying desperately not to make eye contact with the other girl.

The girl in question was fuming. She glared at her sister, silently cursing in her mind. Her thoughts raced, thinking of every single thing she could use to get her own way. But like Ichigo, she couldn't find anything good enough. Everything that could be thought of could also be countered by the blonde, who was paying absolutely no attention to her whatsoever.

He ignored her selfish demands, instead opting to concentrate on research and scanning the city of Tokyo for any leftover threats. However, he knew Ichigo wouldn't be able to deal with her sister for much longer. Zakuro had warned him that something wasn't quite right about Kiichigo. She had come up to him as everyone was being assigned jobs to do when putting up the decorations and discretely muttered an account of what had happened in the changing rooms, not hesitating to mention the glare Kiichigo had thrown at her. But she had also added that Ichigo didn't seem aware of anything strange to do with her twin.

Ichigo chose her words carefully, then said, "Ki, you can't."

"Don't _you _tell _me _what I can and can't do!" she seethed, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"But, Kiichigo, you really can't," Ichigo said exasperated, desperate for her twin to understand.

"If _you _get to be a Mew Mew, _I _want to be one to!"

"You can't!"

Immediately, Ichigo bit her tongue, instantly regretting shouting. "Ki, I'm sorry."

"Shut up."

"But Kiichigo --"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Tears brimmed in the corners of Ichigo's eyes. Kiichigo had never been mad at her. Ever. She obeyed the command, lips sealing tightly so not another word could pass through them. Her head shot down to look at the floor, hands placed on her knees.

Suddenly she felt a weight on her shoulder. Glancing upwards, she found Zakuro standing above her, looking down at her with slight sympathy. That cheered the young girl up, Zakuro only ever showed concern and pity when it was required and important. She had appeared seconds after she had heard the cry, fearing for her friend, though not showing it.

"You can't be a Mew Mew," stated the model bluntly, obviously referring to Kiichigo.

"Why not?"

Zakuro turned to Ryou for back up. The boy simply said, "Because you can't."

The wheels in Kiichigo's head began turning again, racking her brain for anything to use against them. Anything at all. She couldn't just stand here and argue, it would be as pointless as exploiting them. I mean how many people knew about them? She had heard about the Earth-defending superheros on the news in America. Though she had never found out her own sister was one of them. Well, if she didn't know…and they had forced her into promising to keep it a secret…

"How many people know who the Mew Mews really are?" she asked innocently.

Without thinking, Ichigo immediately replied, "Only us, Aoyama-kun and you."

That was it. That was exactly what she needed.

"Fine. I'll make a deal with you: Either you let me be a Mew Mew, or I'll tell everyone everything I know about this little Mew Project…"

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**A/N: **See, I updated quicker! Hopefully it's ok, especially as I was under pressure to type as quick as possible (revision needs to be done -sigh-). So review plz!!


	5. A Blackmailer's Tricks Pt 1

Here it is!! Another update! I promised I'd be updating (or posting) stories at least once every 2 weeks - I'm trying my hardest to stick to it (even though it's been 4 weeks)! I couldn't get any time on the computer to actually write it. Anyway, I'll get onto writing now.

Before I forget: for anyone who has read my story Ichigo's Secret - it's a oneshot, I won't be updating it. It's just several of the reviews mentioned an update and it's on alerts. I just wanted to make that clear.

Time for the story - REVIEW PLZ! As per usual: I don't own TMM.

Chapter 5

A Blackmailer's Tricks

"Hurry up! Where's my tea?!"

"On it's way!" Minto called cheerily from the kitchen. She glared down at the delicate china cup in her hands, several thoughts of smashing the fragile ceramics crossing her mind. But she would probably get burned if she did, and therefore chose not to. A growl threatened to gurgle from the back of her throat, so, taking a deep breath, the high-class girl fought it back down. She composed herself and then attempted to glide in her usual manner out of the room. However, it was hard to do so.

Entering the main room, her eyes immediately locked onto the scheming red-head who had perched herself on a seat in the middle of the café. A smug smirk plastered itself upon her face, twisting her lips into, what looked to Minto, like a distorted smile.

Walking over to Kiichigo, she placed the teacup in front of her and forced a smile onto her face.

"Here you are," she said, feigning sweetness. Kiichigo mirrored her candy coated words, replying with a, "Thank you so much." before raising the cup to her lips and taking a slurp. Unused to such lack of table manners, Minto had to stop herself from grimacing.

And when the girl complained, she had to bite her tongue in order not to snap at her.

"Eww! This is disgusting! Take it back and bring me another!" Kiichigo demanded with a flick of her hand…for the sixth time that day. Minto swore her eyes couldn't get any narrower. Thin slits had formed and she could barely see out of them. Through gritted teeth, she managed to mutter, "Ok. I'll just be a minute."

Grabbing the mug, she turned on her heel and almost stomped into the kitchen. Throwing the door open, she began grumbling, praying that the people downstairs in the lab were close to coming up with a solution for all of this. _Oh why on Earth did Ichigo had to have such a…a…a blackmailing bitch of a twin sister?!_

As soon as the question ran through her head, she gasped. She had always been brought up with the lesson: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. The same for thinking. Lucky for her, teasing Ichigo wasn't included in that.

She began boiling the water again and had just placed a fresh tea bag into a clean cup when the door opened to reveal Retasu. She was chewing on her lip - not a good sign - and one hand was raised to her chin. Seeing her made Minto calm a bit - but only slightly. The tension in the atmosphere was still as high as it had been since Kiichigo found out.

Sighing, Minto raised one of her own, tired hands to her forehead. Closing her eyes, she muttered to her friend, "Anything yet?"

Though hesitant, the answer came. "No…n-not really. Shirogane-san can't turn Kiichigo into a Mew like us, but he says he can't not do anything and risk her blabbing to the rest of the world. So, we still have a dilemma. And you? How are you getting on?"

Groaning, Minto said, "That girl is the worst…urrgh. I've made her six cups of tea and each one she's refused saying that they're 'disgusting'. I know I make Ichigo make my tea for me, but this is just ridiculous! At least I don't force her to make me half a dozen and then make her get rid of them!"

Snorting, she finished her rant and turned to Retasu. After the threat from the lab (and plenty of shocked reactions), everyone had come to the conclusion that Kiichigo would have to be kept out of the way so they could decide what they would do. Of course, being the devious devil that she was, Kiichigo had just smirked and told them she would call everyone she knew and tell them while they were doing this…unless someone entertained her in the meantime. At first, Purin had offered, reeling off all the tricks and acts she could perform to the clearly unimpressed girl. But Zakuro had quickly come to the realisation that when Kiichigo said _entertain _she meant _run around and do her bidding. _

And in the end, Minto had been volunteered.

Casting her now opened orbs down to the floor, she murmured that Kiichigo was a tyrant and told Retasu to get everyone to hurry up as she didn't know how much longer she could take this. Making tea wasn't the only thing she had been ordered to do that morning. Thank goodness her friends didn't know what else, because she would never live it down…

Her head snapped up as the water finished boiling and she immediately grabbed the kettle, ready to pour it onto the teabag. Turning to Retasu one last time before leaving, she gave a tired, ghost of a smile. The green-haired girl returned it and then left the room herself, heading back to the steps that would take her to the basement.

Upon reaching the bottom, she proceeded to poke her head into the overcrowded room. Everyone was so deep in discussion that they didn't notice her. It was only when she spoke did the heads twist her way and a rosy hue formed on her cheeks due to the attention she received.

"I think…anou…maybe someone should switch with Minto-chan. She looks very tired and deserves a break."

Ryou eyed Retasu, considering the girl's statement carefully. It had been quite a while since Minto had been sent up there - and for all he knew, Kiichigo had kept her running about and most likely _working _(something the blue-haired girl was not used to - though he would never admit it aloud. Ichigo would demand a raise even more if he did) the whole time.

He nodded his head, asking, "Well, who's going to take her place?"

"I will na no da!" volunteered Purin as she leapt up in the air, hand raised as if she were in a classroom.

Once again, Ryou nodded his head. Most likely, Purin would drive Kiichigo insane after about two minutes and hopefully the manipulative minx would lay off of them all for a while.

After noting his approval, the blonde-haired girl made a dash for the stairs that would take her up into the main part of the café. Immediately focusing his attention back to the rest of the group, he picked up the discussion from where it left off.

"The Mew Project is over so we can't inject her with any animal genetics," he stated bluntly, not actually wanting to debate about this, but rather about what to do with Ichigo's twin. Personally he would have liked to gag her and throw her in a closet for several hours to teach her a lesson, but he knew Ichigo would have a fit if he tried anything to harm her.

The catgirl herself was slumped in one of the chairs, vaguely aware of the conversation, but mostly tuned out; in her own little world. She couldn't come to terms with how much Kiichigo had changed. _No, she hasn't changed. She's just a little uncomfortable and is acting out of character is all, _Ichigo tried to reason with herself. A small voice in the back of her mind was arguing her denial, however, it faded out as Ichigo played over and over again the same thought.

Sighing, she attempted to rejoin the conversation. "Well, what other reasons are there not to let her? If we tell her to be careful, then maybe she can have the genetics without having the pressure of having to fight with them. I mean, we all went through that, but it doesn't mean she has to," she said.

"If we let just anyone have animal DNA inside them, then the whole world will be half animal. That good enough for you?" Ryou replied, leaning back further into the other chair, seemingly not bothered about Ichigo's reasoning - which only served to get her rattled.

"That's exactly it though; she's not just anyone, she's my twin!" she countered, hands slapped onto her hips.

This shocked the other occupants of the room slightly. Ryou sat up, eyeing Ichigo carefully, taking into consideration the seriousness of the situation - the one of what to do with Ichigo when he told her 'no'. But he could handle her, after all, he had done many a time before. Everyone could handle Ichigo's tempers…just not everyone could do so very well. And Ryou was one of them.

"Forget it baka. The answer is no. It's not going to change anytime soon, so give up."

Her orbs began to fill with water and it took almost everything she had at that moment to stop the sparkling tears from spilling down her cheeks. Didn't he realise what was at stake here? Didn't he realise that they could trust Kiichigo if they gave her what she wanted? Didn't he realise she cared a lot about her sister?

"Just because you have no family and couldn't care less about anything important doesn't mean that I'm the same!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she prayed there was a way to take them back. Her hands clapped to her mouth and her pent up tears fell down her face from her eyes that now resembled saucers. Genuinely shocked by what she had said, she began to whisper an immediate apology, "Shirogane I--"

"Shut up Ichigo," Ryou interrupted coldly, his words piercing her like icicles, stabbing into her being. It hurt her that much. Without a word more, he rose to his feet and walked away. But as he passed her, she noticed something she hadn't seen before - his eyes were glistening, and not with the happiness she was used to seeing in another's eyes.

Her body shook, her gaze directed to the floor. She could feel her friends shooting her with deadly glares, even Minto who had not long since entered the room.

"Shirogane, I'm sorry," she whispered, so quietly that it was only audible to herself and Zakuro, who stood nearest to her.

Zakuro glare softened a little, which would have comforted the smaller red-head had she been looking. But what was said was said, and no matter how much easier and better it would have been if she were able to, the wolf-injected model could not take back Ichigo's words.

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For a long time the room was silent and at unease. Without Ryou, they didn't know how to approach the situation. He was the one with all the scientific knowledge and his genius brain was the most capable of coming up with a solution to their current problem.

Keiichiro refused to take part in the debate, instead he opted to tap unknown things into the computer, dragging up various files or other and saving, what the girls presumed was new data, into them. He seemed annoyed as the speed and inaccuracy of his typing led to believe. He hit the keys hard and fast, causing many mistakes. It was as though his mind was elsewhere, like, maybe on how Ryou was doing.

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Meanwhile, upstairs, Kiichigo was just about ready to rip her hair out. Purin was driving her insane with no sign of letting up on her antics anytime soon. The monkey girl was in the middle of performing one of her latest tricks - balancing a plate on one leg, standing on the other atop of three tables and a chair and her arms were being used for juggling whatever she could get her hands on. Every time Purin tried this trick, it failed miserably.

Multiple crashes and clatters were heard, along with an "Oops…oh well, I'll get it next time, na no da!"

"I can't take it anymore," Kiichigo groaned to herself. "There has to be something better to do than this."

That's when the idea came to her. If she was not mistaken, she remembered that Ryou had left the basement to go upstairs earlier on and she hadn't seen him come back down yet.

"He must still be up there," she muttered, a sly grin forming on her face.

Glancing over at Purin, she noted that the child was still busy clearing up her mess of broken plates and the few chairs she had knocked over. Standing, Kiichigo slowly and cautiously made her way out of the room on tip-toe, careful not to let the other girl see her.

Making it to the stairs unnoticed, she proceeded to climb them until she reached the next floor. Peering down the hallway, she checked no-one else was around and then scampered along it. The first door she came to, she tapped on lightly before opening it to reveal a spare room. The bed was neatly made and the cream curtains were open. A small bedside table stood beside one wall with a cute, cream and wooden lamp on top of it. Apart from that though, there was nothing much else in the room. Unless you counted the chest of drawers meant for filling with clothes.

Edging her way out of the chamber, Kiichigo quietly closed the door behind her and then ran to the next one. She did this several times, not finding much that would interest her - although, she did want to know what was kept behind the locked door she had come across. Obviously it was something important, as when she tried the door, it would not budge. Even when she shoved her whole body weight onto it it wouldn't give. She became fed up with it in no time, though her curiousity could never keep at bay. She kept turning and twisting as she walked down the hallway, half expecting the sealed door to open as if by magic.

Reaching the last door, she gave it a push and it clicked open. However, there was a big difference between this room and the others. This chamber contained a person. And not just any person; the one she had been looking for. Ryou lay on his bed with one arm shielding his eyes. His deep breathing and silence signaled to Kiichigo that he was asleep.

She stared at him, watching him rest. She didn't know how her sister could say he was unattractive because to her, he was gorgeous. His blonde hair fell into the parts of his face she could see and she could imagine his bright cerulean eyes. At this thought, she had to restrain herself from squealing. He was, what she would refer to as, the 'perfect height' and it was an added bonus that his torso was extremely toned. It was only then did it occur to her that he was shirtless. However, she didn't freak out and go red at this sight, unlike her sister. She merely cocked her head to the side and smiled. Although a pink pigment was visible on her cheeks, she didn't let it faze her.

After a minute or so, she decided to have a look around. Turning, Kiichigo made a beeline for the computer.

"Don't even think about it."

She froze. She turned. And that's when she realised he had been awake the whole time. Now her blush came. Crimson stained cheeks rivaled her hair in colour and her eyes darted to the floor. She was aware of his eyes boring into her, most likely he was trying to comprehend why she was there.

"What are you doing in my room?" he asked.

"I got bored, so I went looking around," she replied, leaving out the fact that she had actually been looking for him.

"Well get out, go back downstairs and wait like a good little girl."

Instantly her composure changed. She raised both her eyebrows and her head at his comment, but otherwise remained motionless. Seeing that she wasn't going to go anywhere, he stood and grabbed a shirt, throwing it on much to Kiichigo's disappointment.

"Someone's in a bad mood," she said, smirking.

"Well, someone's sister made me angry," he replied bitterly, placing a hand on her back and giving her a firm shove in the direction of the exit.

"Whoa, whoa. Ichigo's made you mad, huh?" she asked grinning.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation, though he was suspicious as to why there was a smirk on her face. Shaking his head, he ordered, "Now go."

She giggled, looking at him in a flirtatious way.

"One moment. Let me give you something to make you feel better."

Confused as he was, Ryou didn't even have time to ask before she twisted her body round and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Parting from the befuddled boy, she winked and then headed off towards the stairs, leaving the blonde to open and close his mouth like a goldfish…

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**A/N: **Finally finished!! The ending of this chapter was supposed to go differently, but when this idea came to me, I figured it was a nice little twist (although it was going to end up happening eventually).

I'll be getting back on track with updates from now on. So you can expect another chapter up in the next couple of weeks. Also, it's my birthday in a few weeks time and I'm thinking of posting a oneshot around then…

**Now, here's the fun bit: **if you want Kiichigo to do something in the later chapters, let me know. It can be anything: just make sure it'll stir things up. I've already got a few ideas…

KO xoxo


	6. A Blackmailers Tricks Pt 2

Another update

Another story I haven't updated for months, but that's going to change. I've worked hard on this one and I've been writing practically all day, so I hope you enjoy! I was planning to get this up last weekend, but something came up and I couldn't. So, it's a week late - but better late than never!

Disclaimer: See previous chapter because I'm sick of typing the answer.

Chapter 6

A Blackmailer's Tricks Pt 2

The cool, frosty air nipped at her cheeks, causing her to bury her face further into her jacket. Her usually sparkling brown eyes were downcast and lifeless and had been this way for several days now. She kept her head facing the pavement beneath her feet, continuing to trudge through the snow that seemed to her to have lost it's glistening appeal. Now, it was but a mere icy, empty substance that reflected her mood.

The reasons for this were built on the events of a few days prior; namely, the day she had made the mistake of bringing Kiichigo to the café. If she hadn't found out about the Mew Project, then things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. Ichigo and Ryou would still be friends. Well, more or less, if you classed their relationship as friendship.

Ichigo sighed, letting her breath out as a cloud of smoke. Her twin only complicated things. She'd come to that conclusion a little too late though. Wandering aimlessly, Ichigo tried to come up with a plan that would make Ryou forgive her. Though it was highly unlikely that whatever she did would prove a good enough reason for him to. Of everything she could've said, it just had to be the thing that would hurt him most!

Momentarily pausing her thoughts, she looked up just in time to jump out of the way of a lorry headed straight for her. Cursing her stupidity, she exhaled deeply and crossed the rest of the road. Which was when she found herself staring at the back of her twin.

Kiichigo was at the other end of the path, and if it weren't for Ichigo's genetically enhanced eyes, she probably wouldn't have caught her sister as she glanced shiftily from side to side after leaving a small, tucked away building. Something about her seemed different and Ichigo immediately became suspicious. But before she could make her way over to the girl before she disappeared, a yell came from her left.

Tuning, Ichigo saw her boyfriend making his way towards her, looking less than pleased. Although she'd seen him mad before, she'd never seen him this angry. Especially not at her. His eyes, normally glowing with happiness upon seeing her, were cast with a darkened disapproval. His smile was turned into a thin red line, his brow creased in what seemed to be frustration or annoyance. His long, brisk strides were weighted down, almost by the heaviness of his rising temper. Ichigo cringed. This wasn't going to be good.

However, she attempted to lighten the mood, "Aoyama-kun! I haven't seen you for a while! How are you?"

He didn't reply, just kept walking straight for her. A shiver crept down her spine as a feeling of dread washed over her body. He reached her finally, stopping short a hair's breadth away from her slightly trembling form. "Momomiya-san, I think you know perfectly well how I am. And I would appreciate it if you stayed away from me from now on."

His eyes shot daggers, warning her, daring her to say anything. She plucked up the courage - after all, it was just her boyfriend - to ask him what he meant, but as soon as she opened her mouth, he cut her off.

"I don't want any excuses. What you did was unacceptable. I can't believe you would sink that low. You! Of all people! I thought I could trust you! But obviously, I can't. It's over!" His voice was raised to a yell, growing louder with every word. But all of a sudden it quieted, as he maneuvered around her, whispering the last sentence as he left. "I never expected you to cheat."

Tears trickled down Ichigo's cheeks, the words he said not fully registering yet. She was left alone, standing in the snow. What she did? But she didn't do anything…Wait. He said she'd cheated. But she hadn't… Little snowflakes grew bigger, whirling around her, gaining speed. The falling of the whiteness got thicker, more and more descending to the ground until there was a blizzard, blocking anyone and anything inside it from sight. Including the red-head. She was lost, alone in the midst of it, as the water continued to stream down her cheeks.

--

An hour later, the front door to the Momomiya household clicked open and a sniffling Ichigo stepped inside. Looking around with empty eyes, she sighed before unzipping her jacket and placing it on the coat-hook. Then she turned, slipping her shoes off and stomping up the stairs.

Upon reaching her bedroom, she pushed open the door and as soon as she was inside flopped down onto her bed. Clutching her duvet tightly, tears once again began to spill from her ducts and pour down her red cheeks. She remained like that for a long time, lying and crying. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her for a reason that she _knew _wasn't true. But she had no way to convince him otherwise.

And on top of that, she had no one to turn to. The past few days, Kiichigo had been the centre of everything; all the attention, all the people, _all the reasons._ Every time anything went wrong and Ichigo was blamed, Kiichigo was there. She was starting to think that the only reason her twin came back was to destroy her life.

Suddenly her tears stopped and the sadness was replaced with a rising anger. Her knuckles began to turn white as her grip on the bed covers became vice-like. Her teeth gritted and her body quaked. Everything…Kiichigo _was _doing everything.

_Flashback_

_It was the day after the 'incident', as the Mews had taken to calling it. Ichigo walked through the doors of the café with a sullen expression, knowing it would take a lot to right her wrong and get Shirogane to speak to her again. After all, what she'd said wasn't the best of things. However, beside her, Kiichigo was brimming over with smiles and perkiness. The catgirl couldn't help but think that maybe something else had happened with Ki later the previous night. _

_Taking a deep breath, Ichigo attempted to cheer herself up. Painting a small smile upon her own face, she glanced around, immediately seeing Minto sitting at her usual table. So, naturally, Ichigo decided to go and talk to her. _

_Making her way over, she grabbed a chair and pulled it out, planting herself down into it. Then turning to her friend, she asked, "Why aren't you in your uniform?" _

_Minto just stared straight ahead, almost as if remaining indifferent, however, she gently put down the cup of tea she held. Opening her mouth, she replied, "Shirogane-san said to come into the café, but we aren't to work. He wants to try and infuse Kiichigo. He's going to make her a Mew." _

_Ichigo's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Behind her she heard a squeal of delight. Kiichigo had won. _

_--_

_It was several hours later when Ichigo and Minto found themselves peeking round the corner of the door that led down to the basement. Ryou had taken Kiichigo to the lab a while ago. Seemingly, he needed to find which animal her genetics would be compatible with. So far, no luck. Or at least, that's what the two spying girls thought as they continued to wait for any sign that would let them know whether or not it had worked. _

_Although they couldn't see anything as such, they could listen. However, even with heightened senses, Minto and Ichigo were straining to hear. The sounds were muffled and it was likely that Ryou had soundproofed the room. Or tried to. _

_After ten minutes more of no results, Minto sighed and gave up, retreating back to her table and taking a sip of her now ice cold tea, which she promptly gagged at. So, standing again, she proceeded towards the kitchen to get herself a fresh brew, leaving Ichigo to press her ear against the other door alone. _

_All of a sudden, she heard footsteps making their way up the stairs. Leaping backwards in time, Ichigo narrowly avoided the wooden entrance colliding with her face. Out from behind it stepped Ryou. Their eyes met in a locked gaze as an uncomfortable silence settled in. Each stared at the other, doing nothing, their expressions portraying no emotion. However, Ichigo was churned up inside, her head reeling with slight fear and anxiety, butterflies swarming in her stomach. They'd had fights before, but none had left her feeling like this. She wanted to make it up to him so badly. She wanted to…but for reasons beyond rekindling their friendship. _

_Meanwhile, Minto had finished making her tea. She came back through into the main part of the café, startling both Ryou and Ichigo. _

_Upon noticing them together, staring at her, Minto said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Have I interrupted something?"_

_Snorting, Ryou turned and snapped, his voice laden with venom, "No."_

_"Shiro--" _

_"Shut up Baka Strawberry. And while you're at it, get out! I don't ever want to see you here again! You hear me? You're fired!" _

_Tears welled in the corners of Ichigo's eyes and she instantly twisted and fled the café. Minto cried out after her, trying to get her to stop. But Ichigo had carried on, ignoring it. However, he didn't fail to notice Kiichigo's sly smirk from the corner of her eye as she burst outside, sobbing carelessly. _

_End Flashback_

She hadn't been back to the large, pink building after that, for fear that she'd upset the boy even further. So the past few days she had either moped about the house or drifted round the streets of Tokyo. With no job at the café, and no school because it was the Christmas Holidays, there was nothing else for her to do.

But why was Ryou as mad as he was? Surely he couldn't be that angry for what she'd said. He didn't need to fire her. And why was she blaming him? It was her sister's fault. She was certain of that much.

Ichigo was so lost in her thoughts, that she almost missed the dingof her doorbell. Wiping her eyes, she stood, making her way to see who it was. But before she reached the bottom of the stairs, the door opened anyway and a cautious Minto entered, scanning the hallway.

"Ichigo-chan? Are you here?" she called out, not seeing the red-head halfway down the stairs.

"I'm fine."

Jumping, the ballerina gasped and turned. "I didn't realise you were there. Sorry for intruding like this, it's just that it's snowing so heavily outside and I couldn't possibly stand in that weather much longer. I mean, look what it's done to my hair!"

A ghost of a smile crept across Ichigo's lips. Minto had obviously deliberately walked to her house so as to cheer her up with the state she would be in when she arrived. And boy, was she a mess. Her blue hair was knotted due to the wind, several strands sticking out and falling into her face. Her cheeks were a bright cherry red, which matched her vibrantly coloured nose, and water trickled down them from melted snowflakes. Her clothes were drenched with snow; covered in a crisp, white coating. A small chuckle of amusement escaped Ichigo's throat and Minto looked up from examining herself, smiling.

"Why are you here?" Ichigo asked in a quiet voice.

"I was worried. I haven't seen you for days," Minto replied.

"The real reason?"

There was a moment of silence whilst Minto chose the right words to say. Finding them, she hesitantly replied, "I overheard Shirogane-san and Akasaka-san talking…" she trailed off, seeing Ichigo wince at the mention of his name. After a short pause, she continued, "They were talking for a while, and I'm not going to recount everything they were saying, but the conclusion was that they both feel that Shirogane was a little too harsh on you."

Ichigo blinked a few times. Suddenly, her lips curved into the biggest smile she'd, well, smiled, for days. She sprang down the last few steps and flung herself at Minto, wrapping her arms around the startled girl. Minto only stood there dumbfounded. When Ichigo let go, she bounded over and grabbed the jacket she kept wearing and threw it round her shoulders.

"I never did give this back to Shirogane, did I?"

Minto continued to stare into space, still dumbfounded.

Rolling her eyes, Ichigo cried, "Well come on then! We have to go now, while Shirogane still thinks that!" And with that, she grabbed Minto's arm, dragging her out of the door and into the frosty snow.

"Huh? Wait, I am _not _going back out there again! Ichigooo!"

--

_An Hour Earlier_

Ryou sat at his computer, typing in data and searching for answers. He kept glancing at the clock as if restless, unsettled. In reality, he was waiting rather impatiently for the café to close. He'd asked Keiichiro to come and see him at the end of his shift to discuss something important.

Groaning, Ryou leant back in his chair, covering his eyes with his arms. He stayed like that for a while, though he didn't know how long. But his somewhat peace was disturbed by a knocking sound. Sighing heavily, Ryou said, "Come in." He heard the person enter, so he swiveled his chair round.

"Shirogane-san? I was just coming to let you know that we're all leaving now," Minto explained, her arms folded across her chest.

"Yeah, ok," he said, waving her away in dismissal. It was obvious to him that she hadn't come up here just to inform him that she and the rest of the girls were leaving; it was only Ichigo who had ever done that before and that was because she was always the one to clean and close up.

Ichigo… Ryou shook his head, ridding himself of the thought of her. He was angry with her, and had a right to be. She'd slashed at an already deep wound, and she knew that. But, though he tried, he couldn't get his mind to shift from her being. There was just something about her…oh, yeah, maybe it was the fact he'd fallen for her some time ago.

He cursed himself aloud, earning a confused look from Minto, who was still inside his room. He glared at her, to which she responded with a glare of her own before promptly turning and exiting. Immediately after she left, Ryou's room was invaded again, this time by Keiichiro.

The chef closed the door behind him, nodding when Ryou motioned for him to sit down and make himself comfortable. Once he had done so, the blonde began to speak.

"Ok, so I've told you that this was pretty important. I lied."

He paused, waiting for the brunette's reaction, which came as a raised eyebrow.

"It's an urgent problem. It's about Kiichigo's blood test. I got the results through earlier, and I think you should take a look," Ryou explained, gesturing for the elder man to see the computer screen. He let Keiichiro scan through the files and data, giving him enough time to allow the information to sink in. When he'd finished reading, Keiichiro stood upright from his hunched over position.

"I don't see what's wrong. Her blood seems to me to be perfectly normal and healthy," he reasoned.

"I know. But that's what struck me. Her blood is _normal_. In order to be able to be infused with the DNA of a Red Data animal, you have to have a certain rare blood type. Kiichigo doesn't."

"And your point…wait, shouldn't her blood be the same as Ichigo's?" Keiichiro realised, bending back down to re-read the screen.

Silently, Ryou nodded, glad that his friend had come to see the dilemma. The two of them looked at each other a moment, then the chef queried, "So how are their blood types different if they're identical twins?"

"That's what I've been wondering for the past few hours," he admitted, shifting his position and tapping on the keyboard. "But the strangest thing is…" he began, stopping for a second until the file had loaded, "why Kiichigo's blood is completely different from her parents aswell."

Surely enough, the information on the screen backed up his statement. Keiichiro shook his head in disbelief. Confusion crinkled his brow, alongside the deep thoughts that were spinning in his mind. It shouldn't be possible; yet, here was the information right in front of him.

Pulling away, he walked back over to Ryou's bed, settling down onto it once more. "Does she know?" he asked.

"Not yet. She only knows that the infusion process wouldn't work and that she isn't able to become a Mew Mew," Ryou said, not looking up from the keyboard as he carried on updating an old document.

"Which is where that mark came from."

The blonde froze. Side-glancing at Keiichiro, he moved his hands up and pulled his collar over his cheeks, hiding them. The other man gave a soft chuckle, despite the situation. Although he was getting on for seventeen, Ryou still reverted back to one of his childish habits every now and again.

Changing the subject, he asked, "Does Ichigo know?"

Again, the boy froze. Only this time, when he finally moved, it was to throw a glare at Keiichiro. The pony-tailed man exhaled noisily, purposely catching the attention of the other occupant of the room who had decided to go back to his typing.

"You can't avoid her forever, you know."

"Yes I can. I fired her. She's not coming back here, so that means I won't see her and certainly _can _avoid her."

"In other words; you're just too stubborn to admit you were a little too harsh on her," Keiichiro reasoned.

Ryou snorted in disagreement.

"She didn't intend to say that to you. She was angry. How many times have you upset her by saying something so inconsiderate and insensitive when you were angry?"

"I haven't."

"That was a rhetorical question, to which you got wrong anyway. You owe her an apology."

"The only thing I owe her is a slap across the face!"

"You mean like the one Kiichigo gave you?!"

The shouting stopped momentarily. Then Ryou's eyes narrowed, and avoiding looking at the older male, he hissed, "I could do a lot worse than _this _to Strawberry!"

Yanking down the collar, he turned to give Keiichiro a proper view of his cheek. It was still crimson, as if it had happened mere seconds ago. Three, sharp cuts ran through the middle, the ends of which were deeper from where Kiichigo had dug her nails in. Sinking back into the seat, Ryou turned and cast his vision in the opposite direction.

"You would never hurt Ichigo and you know it."

He lifted a hand to his forehead, massaging his temple slowly to calm himself down. Then he whispered, "I know." Ryou swiveled back to face Keiichiro. "I would never hurt her physically. And in any other case, it would never be intentional. Yes, I was too hard on her, especially given all the times she's forgiven me when I've irritated and infuriated her."

"Going to give her another chance then?" the brunette smiled.

"I suppose. After all, it's boring here without her. I have nothing to do. It's almost as if my whole day centered around winding her up."

Beaming, Keiichiro stood and made his way to the exit, silently offering to go close up the café. But on his way out, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "It did."

--

**A/N: **I wasn't originally going to end it there, but I figured I'd stop now or else it wouldn't be up by tonight. I'm planning on there being only three more chapters, and I'm going to work on this story alone until it's finished, so for anyone who reads either 'Strawberry Shrieks' or 'Change', updates might not be for a month or so…but then again, it all depends on how quickly I finish this off.

**Review please! Button's just there and it doesn't take long! **

KO xoxo


	7. Forgiveness

Chapter 7

Sorry if this chapter's not my best. It's taken a while because every time I went to write something, I ended up having to do something else! Plus, I've deleted and re-written it three times today.

**Important Note: **I've decided to put a song in one of the last chapters (there's only going to be one or two more). But instead of coming up with a song idea myself, I want to see what you pick! So please suggest a song in your review! Winner gets a oneshot - anything you want, any pairing, any genre and dedicated to you!

In general, I've been busier than expected these past couple of weeks. But that's no excuse to keep you all waiting for this! An update for Strawberry Shrieks shouldn't be too far off, and since I decided to just leave my story Change as a oneshot (now called Behind Closed Doors) and Twinglish is nearly done, I'll be starting something new soon.

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own TMM.

Chapter 7

Forgiveness 

She raced through the streets, heart pounding in anticipation, ignoring the angered grumbles and shrieks of Minto as she was dragged along behind. Snow was kicked up in showers, drenching them both as it hit their warmer skin and melted. But both girls paid no mind to that, instead their concentration was held by what they themselves were trying to do; Ichigo was sprinting toward the café with a huge grin plastered over her lips and Minto was trying not to trip and land flat on her face. Which, to be honest, was a considerably hard task for the poor ballerina.

Suddenly Ichigo came to an abrupt halt, causing Minto to barely avoid crashing into the back of her. Panting, she placed her hands onto her knees and tried to catch her breath. Briefly letting her eyes wander, she noticed they weren't yet at the café. They were stood at the end of the pavement, though how it was possible to tell which was the walkway and which was the road, Minto really didn't have a clue. And they hadn't exactly stopped for traffic, as there were no oncoming vehicles in sight. Rolling her eyes, she brought herself back upright into her normal posture, vision still directed at Ichigo's back.

Minto sighed, releasing her breath as mist. "What have we stopped for then? I thought we were going to the nice, warm, dry, _not-outside-in-the-freezing-cold_ café. I didn't think you wanted to come to the end of some random street and stand?"

Ichigo shook her head. "We came looking for Shirogane, did we not?"

Minto opened her mouth to voice her confusion, but clamped it shut again when she came to the conclusion herself. "So where is he then?" In response, Ichigo placed a finger to her lips, motioning with her other hand for Minto to follow her.

The two crept along, Minto having no idea why she was doing so. Their backs were arched as they walked along on tip-toe, trying to be as silent as possible. After a few moments of doing so, Minto's face screwed up and she pulled herself upright.

"Why on Earth are we doing this?"

"Shh! I don't want him to see us yet!"

Huffing, she retorted, "Well I don't even see him." To emphasize this, she craned her neck, stretching to see. However, she did catch sight of him, and she grinned slyly, causing Ichigo to give her a strange stare.

"Are you sure he's not there?" By this point, the red-head had turned to face her friend, not bothering to check behind her herself.

"Not where you thought he was."

"And what exactly is _that _supposed to mean?" asked Ichigo, putting her hands onto her hips.

"It means I'm right behind you."

She froze, her jaw dropping in shock. Everything around her faded as the blood rushed throughout her head, so much so that she failed to catch the fleeting goodbye from Minto as she scurried off. Slowly, she swiveled on her heel, stopping her body right in front of the blonde himself.

"Shi-shirogane?" she stuttered, a pink hue forming on her cheeks.

He merely raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know why the hell you were following me?"

She winced at the harshness of his tone. The anger behind it hit her in a wave, and she suddenly felt a shiver creep up her spine. _I've really done it, haven't I? No matter what Minto said, I have a feeling that he certainly _doesn't _want to forgive and forget, _Ichigo thought, subconsciously pulling her jacket round her. Ryou noticed this, his cross expression softening gradually until it was completely neutral.

"That's my jacket. You still have it, huh?" It was a statement rather than a question, which caused her to gasp slightly.

"S-sorry, Shirogane-san," she whispered, quickly whipping the jacket off and holding it out to him. He eyed it a moment before shifting his gaze back to her. She was already shaking, teeth beginning to chatter and goosebumps covering her arms. Blowing out a long breath, he shook his head slightly, only enough for her to vaguely see the movement.

"Keep it," he offered. Relief washed over her features, though he couldn't tell whether or not it was from the fact she had been saved from having to embrace the cold weather, or whether she thought that his small act of kindness meant that he was ready to accept her apology. Figuring it was most likely the first one he scowled and glared, abruptly turning and leaving. Knowing she wouldn't be following him, he called over his shoulder, "At least until we get back to the café. Come on."

Jumping, Ichigo ran forward, catching up to him. However, she chose to walk several paces behind due to the uneasiness that tied knots in her gut. For some reason, she was desperate to make him understand that she was truly sorry. That all she wanted was to be friends with him again.

--

Kiichigo grinned smugly to herself. Her plan was going extremely well - even better than she had hoped. It would only be a matter of time before her finale, which would bring an end to her sister's perfect life and satisfy her hunger for revenge. The revenge she had been plotting for the last nine years of her life.

She seethed at the memories as they resurfaced. The ones that had brought all of this. Ichigo had gotten everything. Meanwhile, she herself had received nothing but the heartbreak of being shunned by the ones she had trusted most. In a twisted way, they were the ones who had made her the way she was now. It was the truth, after all, that she had been the exact clone of her sister. She had acted in the same manner and laughed and giggled and played. But suddenly it all changed. For the worse. And they'd pay for it.

They'd rue the day they had forced her out.

A solitary tear trickled down her face. It went unnoticed as Kiichigo continued on, blocking out all things except her blind rage. Each step drew her closer to her next destination, her newly cut, short red hair bouncing as she did so. The agency was just a little further up ahead and she could already see the indigo-topped head of her next victim. She had gotten rid of Ichigo's boyfriend and one of her closest friends. Now it was time for the rest of them to go. Starting with Zakuro Fujiwara.

--

The journey back to the café had been a silent one, not a word having been uttered since his command for her to follow. It had taken them fifteen minutes to walk the distance back to the café, Ryou clearly wanting Ichigo to suffer from her personal guilt as he had taken the long route instead of opting for the shorter, quicker one.

Ryou pulled out his keys and inserted them into the lock. He twisted them until he heard the door click, then pushed it open and stepped inside. Ichigo joined him immediately, purring softly in content as the warmth hit her skin, soothing her. The snow had left her drenched, however, and she knew she needed to dry off.

"Um…Shirogane-san? Is my uniform still here?" she asked, arms wrapped around her shivering form.

He nodded, pointing to the changing rooms as though she had never been there before. She turned and headed to them. Just as she reached the door, she heard him ask, "So are you going to tell me why you were following me?"

She paused, trying to think of an excuse. But given the current situation, it would be better just to tell him the truth. "I wanted to apologise. I've been trying, but you wouldn't listen --"

"Well I'm listening now," he cut her off, but surprisingly his tone was softer than before.

Taking that sentence as a signal, she said, "I'm sorry Shirogane-san. I shouldn't have said that. And for the record, I really didn't mean it."

"Then why did you say it?"

Tears fell from her eyes, glistening in the light as they splashed onto the floor. "I don't know. All I know is that I don't want to fight anymore."

Ryou turned his head, thinking about it. He couldn't watch her cry. If there was one weakness he had, it was her crying. He chewed his own lip, thinking more on what Keiichiro had said, debating with himself whether or not he really should forgive her. She seemed sincere enough, and the sadness in her voice was undeniable. But honestly, what tipped him the most in his decision was that he wanted it too. After a minute, he faced her once more. Ichigo felt a small bout of frustration rise within her. His expression was completely unreadable. Well, until a ghost of a smile painted itself across his lips. Her cheeks warmed significantly, causing him to chuckle.

Once he stopped, he said, "Apology accepted. Truthfully, I was getting bored with being mad at you. Baka Strawberry."

Ichigo's blush deepened in anger. "You were getting bored?! Is that all?"

He smirked. "Well, what would you rather have me do?" He perched himself upon one of the café tables, arms folded across his chest in a very Ryou-like manner.

"It would be nice if you had missed me."

"Ok."

"Ok?" she repeated, puzzled.

"Ok. I missed you Baka," he replied, letting his eyelids shut.

"Really?"

"Really. Now go get changed. You're making my floor wet and you're the one who's going to clean it up."

"SHIROGANE YOU JERK!" Ichigo yelled, stomping off into the changing room to gather her uniform, leaving him to laugh. When she was finally out of eyeshot, she allowed her own smile to grace her lips. It was as though nothing had changed, that their fight had never happened.

The same thought ran through Ryou's head. As did another. "At least she dropped the honourific," he mumbled to himself as he waited for her to return.

--

_"Let me get this straight; you think you can fool me by pretending to be Ichigo, when clearly you're not?" _

Kiichigo growled. Zakuro hadn't believed her when she had claimed to be her sister. Ok, so she knew she was going to have a hard time convincing her. But she didn't realise how hard.

_Maybe I should've started at the bottom and worked my way up, _she thought, rubbing her coated arms for more warmth. _Or maybe I should've just been as ditsy as her and not brought anything to keep the cold off. _

Looking around her though, she instantly took back the thought. It was probably the worst weather the girl had experienced. The wind blew mercilessly, whipping at the back of her neck and any other exposed skin. The snow had thinned out though, and only a few lone flakes fell from the cloud filled sky. Still, the temperature was hovering well below zero, keeping the whiteness blanketed on the ground.

"Maybe I should just come up with a plan B," she muttered under her breath.

--

When she had finally reemerged from the room, Ryou had planted a mop in her hands with the instruction to wipe up her water trail, then stalked away with a shout that he would be in his bedroom for when she finished. Of course, this had been a little while ago and Ichigo had long since finished.

She sighed, placing her hands onto the top of the handle. For some reason, she wanted to keep him waiting. A mischievous gleam sparkled in her chocolate eyes as she continued to listen for him. And it wasn't long before his footsteps came pounding down the stairs.

"Baka Strawberry. I thought I told you to meet me up in my room after you finished," he said.

Stretching and giving a catty yawn, Ichigo replied, "You did. I just wanted to see how long it would take you to come down and get me, nya."

"Fine, then I guess you just won't get your present."

"Present, nya?!" she exclaimed, jumping round to face him. Her face was lit up, much like the Christmas tree that stood in the corner. She galloped over to him, hands clasped in front of her waist, cat ears and tail now visible.

"Aww, does that excite my little Strawberry?" he teased, flicking one furry, black ear before returning his hands to his hips.

Not knowing how else to react (since she obviously couldn't trust her words anymore) she stuck her tongue out. A gasp escaped her lips as he caught it between his fingers.

"Ah ah ah. Naughty kitty. You shouldn't stick your tongue anywhere other than inside your own mouth. Or the cat might just catch it," he carried on teasing, smirking with the reaction he got. Her eyes rolled at his pun, but the glowing redness had yet again returned to her cheeks. So he did what anyone in his situation would do. He brought his face in closer.

The warmth of his breath tickled her skin and she shivered happily under it. Her tongue was still firmly in his grip, and no matter how she struggled, she knew her efforts would lead to nothing more than her muscle hurting her. What she didn't understand though, was why she wasn't doing anything to stop him as he leant closer, and closer still, until the gap was almost non-existent…

He let go of her tongue, just in time…

--

**A/N: **Now there's a cliffhanger for you! It was going to be longer, but I decided I really couldn't write more for this chapter. I've struggled all the way through it because I've not really been able to think straight. So it's not the best work I've ever produced, but it's something, ne?

Everything should be explained in the next chapter. Don't forget to suggest a song for me to use! Review please!! Next update should be up ASAP.

KO xoxo


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